Psycho Ted
by doorist
Summary: Something's wrong with Ted, Cody doesn't know what it is, but it's getting worse, and Cody has the bruises to prove it. Randy notices, and with John, they try to intervene before it's too late. DARK. Violence, murder, implied rape, m/m pairings.
1. Chapter 1

Psycho!Ted

Not for all tastes  
anti-fluff  
rated R

As they left the ring and made their way up the ramp, Ted could feel the tension rising from his stomach. He had to get out of here. He had to get away, away from the cameras, before he exploded.

He marched ahead of Cody and Randy, who were doing their usual slow saunter up the ramp. It drove him insane, he could never keep in time, they'd had literally months longer than him to perfect it, to be so _in sync, _he thought bitterly.

But he stopped and waited for them as soon as he got backstage, out of sight. Not out of any sense of loyalty or friendship, mostly just to keep an eye on them.

Ted didn't trust Randy Orton as far as he could throw him, and he was getting more and more concerned with the impact he'd been having on Cody while he'd been away.

When they appeared, grins replaced the steely glares and smirks gracing their faces. Ted watched in fury, envy overtaking him as Randy heartily congratulated Cody on a job well done, yet again, with yet another hand on Cody's shoulder, yet another stroke around his neck.

All a show? All for the fans? Well where were the fans now huh? No fucking fans here backstage _Randy_.

Ted thought the name in his head, dripping with venom, he was about to blow a fuse as he watched, until Randy turned his attention to him.

"Great job out there Teddy" he said with a squeeze to the top of his shoulder, harder than necessary, grinning as he shook Ted's hand with his free one. But his grin dropped as he saw Ted's face.

"You okay man?"  
"I'm fine," Ted managed to hiss between clenched teeth, shaking Randy's hand harder until the bigger man's eyes narrowed in realisation.

"Okay, okay, I get it, what the fuck man? Sorry for asking," Randy pulled his hand back and flexed it, looking over to Cody, eyebrow raised in question, but Cody just shrugged and looked away, and Randy decided to drop it.

"Ok guys," he looked at Ted carefully, "I'm off for a shower, see you later," He shook Cody's hand again, smiling slightly to cover the intense look in his eyes that washed over his face at the resigned grimace Cody fixed him with.

_'Just leave it,'_ Cody's eye's seemed to be saying to him, and he nodded slightly, barely perceptible, pulling him into a hug with one arm, looking over the younger man's shoulder at Ted briefly before he walked off.  
"Laters man,"

Ted glared daggers after him, waiting until he turned the corner before smacking Cody hard across the cheek, his face hardened.

Cody gasped, but didn't react, almost as if he knew it was coming, leaving his head turned towards the wall as though expecting another one to follow. The sound of Ted's breathing filled the room as his chest heaved, and Cody could practically see the steam from his nose as he snorted, like a bull about to charge.

"Teddy?" Cody ventured quietly, trying to placate the seething man, "What's wrong? I'm sorry, I don't know what I did wrong,"  
"It's Randy,"  
"What's wrong with him?"  
"What's _wrong _with him? Well fucking _nothing _obviously, he's fucking _perfect,_ the _cunt_." Ted spat out the last word savagely.

Cody shrugged, his face stinging like hell but refusing to put up a hand to sooth it as he looked back to Ted, prominent finger marks on display red raw across his cheek. Occurances like this were becoming all too frequent between the two of them recently, and Cody refused to rise to it, but he'd learnt that the hard way.

"Look, ok man, I can't deal with you when you're like this Ted, you never say what it actually is that's eating you, you just bitch and moan and nothing I do or say helps. So I give up." he shrugged again and made to walk off, "I'm going for a shower."

"What?!" Ted yelled, looking scandalised, reaching out to spin him around then smacking him across the face again, hissing, "_Randy_. is. in. there."

Cody remained calm, although his temper was rising, "_SO_? He won't be in _MY_ shower..."  
"_You fucking want him to be though_," Ted's inner voices were out of control as he closed his eyes, face heavenward, clenching his fists.  
"... and besides him there'll probably be a few other guys in there. Is that gonna be a problem for you too?"

Ted just growled in reponse, taking a few deep breaths, very deep breaths.  
"Yeah you'd like that wouldn't you Cody?"  
But in reality, it _was_ a problem for Ted. As much as Cody couldn't see it, in Ted's mind, everyone would be staring at him, at _his_ man.

He was sick and tired of feeling this way, being so jealous, possessive, feeling so angry. But he couldn't stop. He couldn't handle it when other people looked at his man, flirted with him, just _talked_ to him even, and Cody, modest as ever, was fucking oblivious to the sheer amount of attention he got everywhere he went, people leering all over him, throwing themselves at him.

Well that's how Ted saw it, and he couldn't help but see it as more than it was, and it drove him fucking insane.

With a roar of frustration he grabbed Cody by the arm in a vice like grip and marched him down the corridor towards the locker room, before stopping dead in his tracks as if wondering what the hell he was doing, looking at his hand locked forcibly around Cody's bicep.

He let go, stepping back, and shook his head as if to clear it, "I'm going back to the hotel, I'm showering there," he said, looking at Cody carefully to gauge his reaction.

"Okay," Cody replied, sounding unsure, trying not to seem worried about Ted's recent tendency to these bi-polar style mood swings.  
Ted stared at him incredulous, red mist descending as he exploded,

"_OKAY_?" he screamed, grabbing the now visibly concerned younger man and throwing him up against the wall, fingers closing around the jugular, pinning him by the neck.  
"_OKAY_?! Cody? You just gonna let me go? Was that your plan? So you can catch a ride back with _Randy_? Randy_ fucking _Orton? _HUH_?! Fucking _ANSWER ME_!"

Cody stared at him through narrowed eyes, in shock but not scared of him, more worried as hell about what was wrong with him recently.

"Ted," he said loudly and clearly, as though speaking to a naughty small child, "Put me down," he continued firmly, "Ted I'm not gonna fight, just let me go, and you can keep on believing whatever make believe shit you got rattling around that thick skull of yours,"

Ted's fingers clutched tighter momentarily and Cody's face grew redder and he spluttered slightly, his hands reaching up to prise Ted's strong arms from their grip round his neck that was now stopping his airflow.  
Finally Ted seemed to snap out of it as Cody began to clutch desperately at him, clawing his face, Ted's reflexes releasing him as his head snapped back, but as he stepped away he slapped him hard again across the cheek.

Cody stared at him, supressing a cough, one hand flying to his neck upon release, but apart from that he didn't bat an eyelid, he just walked away, hand marks evident around his neck.

Ted watched him go, "Cody, wait,"

"I need a shower," he didn't look round as he disappeared into the room a little further along the corridor, and Ted slumped against the wall as the red mist dissipated and he realised what he'd done.

_What the fuck is wrong with me?_ He clawed at his own head, rubbing his hands hard over his face, a sob escaping his mouth and a tear pricking his eye.  
He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up, unaware he'd had an audience, into a pair of deep blue eyes.

"If you lay a single finger on him again I will fucking kill you,"

The cold voice washed over Ted, cutting through him like a knife and he crumbled to the floor, trembling, shaking like a leaf as his fury subsided, only to be replaced by fear, fear of himself and his capabilities when he was in this state.

"John, I'm sorry, I don't know what happened, I don't know, what did I do? What did I do?" he stammered incoherently his brain flickering back and forth over and over, hands hovering to cover his face, smearing the blood from the scratch where Cody had gouged his skin.

"You okay Teddy?" John's voice had softened as he watched the man distintigrate before his very eyes.  
Ted didn't have anything to say, because he knew he wasn't okay, he was breaking down, and he couldn't stop.

"You know Randy's not tapping that right?"

Ted's head snapped round in disbelief, staring wild eyed.  
"Your little boyfriend, Randy ain't going there,"  
"_What_?"  
"Ted, don't play dumb with me,"  
"But how the fuck did you even know that's what I thought?"  
"Because it's fucking written all over your face Ted." John said matter of factly.

Ted shrank back into the wall, looking aghast, "But no one knows about..."  
"About you and Cody?" John chuckled, "Well Beth is a good cover, kudos for that one,"  
"Has that little fucker been telling people? He fucking promised me...I'll fucking kill him!"  
"Hey, chill, chill dude, _geez_, give the guy some credit, he didn't tell no one," John scoffed, appalled that Ted had such little faith in his lover, "Look, Randy figured it out, _ages_ ago, and _he_ told me."

"_WHAT_? How the fuck did he figure it out? We were always so careful..." he trailed off thinking, then, suddenly angry again, "And why the fuck did he tell _you_?" he demanded.

John scowled, biting back his retort, "He told _me_, Ted, to stop me from putting my foot in it, which I am prone to do, '_and 'cos he fucking tells me everything,'_ " he added the last bit to himself, glaring for a moment before continuing, "And you do a pretty good job at almost giving the game away by yourself Ted,"

"What? _Me_?" Ted stared at him incredulous, "What are you fucking talking about?"  
"Well, okay, for example, remember when we were at that party for, oh what was it even for? I dunno, you and Codes were playing with bread anyway... remember?" he asked, cocking his head to one side.

"Yeah," Ted nodded in affirmation, none the wiser, "And?"

"_And_, me and Randy were outside, he was having a smoke, Cody was with us too..."

Ted's face fell in realisation,

"...But you didn't even see us Ted, you were so drunk, you just beelined for Cody, smacking him against the wall and you kissed him so fucking hard, god damn it was hot! Hawt! But Ted, when he tried to, er, _dissuade_ you, shall we say..."  
"_Dissuade_ me?!" Ted interrupted, "He fucking pushed me off! Just pushed me away! He didn't want me! He didn't want me 'cos Randy was there! It all makes sense now..."

John shook his head in dismay at Ted's train of thought, he couldn't believe what he was hearing.  
"Dude, you've got it sooo wrong man. You didn't even give him time to explain, you fucking _lost it _man, he was trying to discretely tell you we were standing _right fucking there_ and that maybe you wouldn't be so keen on that, what with your secrecy clause and all, but you just started accusing him of all kindsa shit!"

"I didn't know you two were there," Ted hung his head, taking it all in.

"Obviously!" John snorted with contempt, "But is that all you gotta say about it? Dude, Randy had it figured out and had told me waaay before that. And as it happens, before you came storming out we'd been asking Cody about it, well ribbing him to death really, Randy asked him what he was so god damned happy about, and you know what he said?"

Ted shook his head.

"He said _you_. He was saying how great everything is with you, apart from the whole secrecy thing, cos he wants to shout it from the god damned roof tops Ted! But he knows _you _don't, so he's doing what _you _want. Then enter Ted, the way you were acting I don't know why he even bothers with you. But the dude's fucking in love with you man, yet you can't see it, you're _obsessed_ with Randy. So you come bowling in and fucking destroy the boy,"

Ted groaned, furious with himself. Everything always seemed so clear in his head, then he lost control, like a red mist clouded his judgement, clouded any clarity, then after he didn't even know why he'd done it, or sometimes, what he'd even done.

"_I'm _not obsessed with Randy,"  
This time John chuckled, "You sure about that? After everything I just told you, the one thing you pick up on, is _that_? You're gonna have to be careful man, you're gonna push him away, and you got a keeper there Teddy, he knows the score yet he _still_ hangs around, for his sins! What the fuck is it you're so god damned jealous about anyway?"

They continued to talk in the corridor, Ted slumped head in hands, as unseen by both of them, Randy left the locker room, Cody following close behind, his swollen face hidden in the shadows.

Randy was fuming, but he held it in. As they reached the carpark he turned, his eyes flashing, and looked over at where Cody was doing his best attempt at ignoring him.  
He kept his voice low, and even. "Why do you let him do it to you Codes?"

"Do what?"

"Okay, whatever." He shook his head and rested his chin on his arms leaning on the top of the rental, watching Cody hunting for his keys in his bag. He'd never seen the young man so uptight and agitated, but yet still he refused to acknowledge what was going on.  
He dropped the bag to the ground, bending to rifle through it,

"Stop fucking looking at me Randy,"

"I'm worried about you."

"Don't be." he unlocked the car as he straightened, picking up his bag and one hand poised on the doorhandle he paused, hesitating to get in, before leaning back against the door with a sigh.

"Randy, please, just leave it, ok? Please?" He looked up, finally making eye contact, his eyes pleading with the man across from him.

"Codes, I don't know how you expect me to do that! If I was there when he hurt you, I fucking swear I..."

"I know, I know, but please Randy, just do this for me?"

Randy sighed, shaking his head in despair. He unlocked his own car and threw his bag in, just for something to do with his hands because the other alternative was punching someone's lights out.  
He nodded, coming round the side of the car to stand in front of his friend, looking at him carefully, examining the bruises already showing around his neck and trailed a finger softly over them.

"Mother fucker," he growled under his breath, holding his tongue though as Cody's eyes flicked up to meet his, glowering. "Okay Cody, I'll do this for you, I'll leave it, but God help me, if I catch him hurting you again..." he held him at arms length scrutinising his injuries then pulled him into a quick hug as Cody cut him off, again.

"I know. And thankyou, really. But it's ok, I can handle it,"

"Okay." Randy wasn't fooled for a moment.

"Okay." He nodded to himself, breaking free as tears threatened to spill from his eyes and he wanted to escape before the older man saw. The last thing he needed was the leader of his group to see him show any signs of weakness, to show he was hurting.  
"I'm off man," he said, turning round ready to climb into the drivers seat, still feeling Randy's eyes boring into him in concern.

"Cody?"  
"What?"  
"Are you gonna leave him here?"  
"Yeah! He was just gonna leave _me_ here!"

Randy put his hands up in defence, "Hey hey! I'm not having a go! I think you fucking_ should _leave him here! I was just asking in case I should let John know to give him a ride is all, 'cos he probably already thinks you've left with me, and you _know_ how well that will go down."

Cody hesitated before getting in, then chucking his bag violently over to the passenger seat and fury flashing in his eyes, tears finally spilling over.  
"You know what? Fuck him! FUCK HIM Randy!" And he got in and was gone before Randy even had time to open his mouth.

.....

Back inside, John was still crouched in the corridor, trying to convince Ted to just calm down, take a shower and give Cody some space. Out the corner of his eye, he saw Randy round the corner as he came back inside, but quickly step back out of view as soon as he spotted them, figuring he'd learn more if Ted didn't see him.

John, wanting to avoid a confrontation but also fill Randy in on the situation before he exascerbated things, again tried to get Ted up from his hunched position on the floor to head to the locker room.  
"C'mon man," he said, loud enough for Randy to overhear, "Let's go pick up your stuff at least. How 'bout I head back to the hotel with you? We can go for a drink and talk about all this some more, what you say? Huh?"

Ted nodded, sighing as he hauled himself up feeling completely deflated. What the fuck was wrong with him? He followed John down the corridor and stepped passed him through the door, John holding it open in order to look to Randy following at a distance, holding one finger up to keep him at bay for a few more minutes.

Randy waited outside, listening in as he heard a locker banging and Ted saying he was going for a shower afterall.  
"Here, you'll need this," John's voice was louder as he obviously tossed him a clean towel from the stack by the door, which within seconds he'd opened a crack, his eye appearing searching frantically for Randy and let him in.

He hadn't even had time to explain before Ted was bowling back into the room. John turned in surprise, his back crashing into Randy's chest in his haste, in time to see Ted smash his fists and headbutt himself face first into the tiled wall, chest heaving, and literally shaking in violent fury as his rage consumed him.

The two men stared in shock at their friend losing the plot, arms flailing, hollering that Cody had left him, that he wasn't in there, that he was _gone_, gone with _Randy_.

Randy, obviously not_ gone_ anywhere because he was standing right there, invisible to Ted's blinkered one track mind, held John back defensively. But John's mouth was set in a determined line and he broke free from Randy's grasp quick as a flash, making his way over.

"Whoa, whoa, whoah there now buddy, what's this? What's all this?" John asked quietly, approaching from the side, hand reaching out as though to tame a wild horse, trying desperately to make out what Ted was mumbling as he repeatedly banged his forehead against the tiles.

"He's _gone_, he's _left _me here, he's _fucking gone_, he's fucked off with _Orton_, I just _know_ it! _You_ said he wasn't fucking him but you're _wrong_, I know different John I know the_ truth_ oh yes I do..."

John looked over to Randy, a look of incredulous concern marring his features as he watched Randy's eyes narrow from wide eyed shock as it registered with him exactly what Ted had just said.  
As much as he'd intended to go after Cody as soon as he'd dropped John off, he was suddenly grateful he hadn't, if only to hopefully save the younger man from some of Ted's insanity, he certainly wouldn't regret that if he managed it.

"Teddy, Teddy, listen!" John was gripping him by the shoulders now in order to get him to turn around, if only to see Randy standing there to hopefully break his psychosis.

"Look bud, I don't know where Cody is, but why would he still be in the shower? We took a long time talking out there just now dude... But I know he's not with Randy, I know that much, look," He gestured indicating the man behind him but Ted was focussed straight ahead as John continued, "Maybe he's outside having a smoke or something..."  
He saw Randy shaking his head motioning _NO_ behind Ted's shoulder.  
"...Or maybe he took off and is having a shower back at the hotel like you suggested, Teddy?" he looked again to Randy who just shrugged this time, as Ted banged his head hard against the locker.

"He's with Randy!"  
John sighed, "He's _not_ Ted, if he was, he'd be _here_ too,"  
"_He is_! I just know it!"

"Ted, look behind you,"  
"I _know _it!"  
"You fucking know _NOTHING_ Ted!"

John, completely bewildered, was rapidly growing weary of Ted's utter craziness now and his patience was wearing thin,  
"Randy is fucking _here_! Fucking look behind you man! Fuck's sake!"  
And he spun him round forcefully, Randy's eyes narrowing again as he took a step back in shock at the mad look in Ted's eye.

"YOU!" Ted screeched, lunging for Randy and backing him against the wall as his eyes focussed, the bigger man side stepping as his shoulder connected, fingers scraping across his face.

"_What_ the_ fuck_?" Randy held him at arms length as John attempted to restrain him from behind.

"Teddy!" John shouted, "Ted, listen now, fucking serious man, listen to me!" he growled as Ted thrashed about trying to break free, kicking out and landing a solid boot in Randy's groin as the wall behind him blocked any escape.

Randy doubled over in agony, throwing a wild punch back out of sheer automatic gut reaction, connecting with Ted's nose as John forced him backwards out of arms reach.

As Randy dropped to his knees and blood began to trickle from Ted's nose, he got in one final kick to Randy's face, snapping his head back with a dull_ thwack_.

Slowly, the door opened and Cody stood there.

He was frozen at the sight before him, taking it all in, Randy crumpled at his feet, and Ted restrained a few steps away. He crouched to check Randy's condition, before slowly rising, and taking a cautious step forward he shoved the packet of smokes he clutched tightly in his hand into his back pocket, reaching out, trying to ignore the chaos in Ted's eyes.

"Teddy?" he said quietly, "What the fuck is going on here baby?" He grabbed a towel and moved to hold it to Ted's bloody nose, "Get the fuck off him John,"  
"Cody I..."  
"Let him go,"

Blue eyes met blue in a battle of will, until Cody broke the gaze, tending to the outpouring of blood.  
"Please John," he whispered, eyes flicking back up, "I'll take him,"

But the moment John released his arms, Ted smirked, shoving Cody backward so hard he toppled over Randy still in a heap behind him, both their heads crashing to the concrete floor.

Ted landed on top, "He's the fucking one you want, he's the one you went to first, fucking take him instead! I knew you were together, I knew it!" he screamed, punches reigning down on Randy as everything faded to black.

But this time John meant business.  
Seeing Randy knocked out before his very eyes, he was on Ted like a shot.  
With a roar he had him thrown off and smashed him into the locker behind him, pinning him up by the scruff of his neck as he screamed in his face.

"_WHAT DID I TELL YOU? WHAT DID I FUCKING TELL YOU_?" Ted's hair was blown back with John's fury and the last thing he saw as he opened his mouth in retort was a fist looming in from his left.  
He barely had time to register, let alone brace himself, before it connected and he was sliding to the floor, out cold.

Chest heaving, breathing loudly, John stood looking down at the crumpled heap at his feet, turning at the agonising groan eminating behind him.

Making his way over he helped Cody who was struggling to sit up, disentangling him from Randy quickly, before moving over to check on the trail of blood running from Randy's nose and down his ear, pooling on the ground below his fallen form.

John did his best not to freak out at the sight, but Cody saw the look ghost across his face and sprung into action, taking over despite his own agony.

"Randy!" he said quietly, lightly tapping his cheeks each side, "Randy! Come on now," He continued tapping, lifting up each eyelid and feeling for his pulse. "John, pass me that water," he demanded, as Randy started to stir.  
John, sitting back on his haunches watching gravely, his face set like stone, took a moment to register the order.

"John!" Cody said again, punching him lightly on the arm as Randy groaned and his eyes flickered.  
"Hey there big fella," Cody said lightly, Randy slowly focussing on him.

John stared wide eyed, letting out the breath he didn't even realise he was holding, and reaching for Randy's hand as he turned his eyes skyward, he thank every non specific deity he could think of.  
"Hey man," he said out loud, smiling, their fingers intertwining as Randy tried to sit up.

"No no, stay right where you are for a few more minutes," Cody said with authority, wetting one of the towels and wiping away the blood.

John, breathing a sigh of relief, started functioning again as he helped Randy to sit up.  
"Take him to the medi-bay Codes. See if anyone's still there, then get him outta here," He threw a look over to the fallen figure of Ted against the opposite locker, "I've got some business to attend to." he finished darkly.

"Please don't hurt him John," Cody's eyes were pleading as he helped Randy stand up.  
"Ok, well, I'll try. But I can't promise anything," he glowered in return, looking between them, "But I'm damn sure gonna talk some sense into the fucker, fucking deranged,"

Cody nodded, "Look in his bag John," he added softly, turning back to look at Ted sadly as he reached the door, looking thoroughly distraught as he took Randy through. 


	2. Chapter 2

Pstcho Ted Pt2

John stared after Cody inquisitively as he disappeared from view, and with a brief check on Ted to make sure he was still out cold, flung open his locker.

He hurriedly rifled through his stuff, finding nothing but socks, jocks, a box, and a few Legacy t-shirts in his gymbag. He grew frantic, wondering what the fuck Cody was alluding to.

Dragging out the whole thing, he tipped it over onto the floor, and along with the contents, the bottom of the bag spilled out as well, revealing an extra large pair of socks, all rolled up tightly and jam packed solid with something hidden inside, tucked away into the lining.

Crouching, John picked up the bundle cautiously, his curiousity aroused as he turned it over in his hands. Feeling the outline within the thick heavy socks carefully to ascertain its contents, his blood ran cold and his heart sank as it dawned on him what was inside. He'd seen this all before.

Sitting back on his haunches, he started to sweat, and shaking his head sadly he slowly and carefully unravelled the tightly packed material, seeing exactly what he expected to see, the last thing he wanted to find inside.

Hearing a movement on the other side of the locker door, he quickly gathered everything up, stuffing the contents back in the bag any which way as he peered around to see Ted stirring.

HIs eyes were still closed, and John chucked the bag haphazardly back inside, carefully picking up the items he'd left out on the floor and placing them on the top shelf, quietly closing the locker door behind him.

As Ted came to, John glowered, towering over him, face like thunder.

"You _mutha fucker_ DiBiase, You _fucking_ mutha fucker," he seethed, bending down to face level for emphasis as he spat out the words. He grabbed Ted, eyes still glassy, by the scruff of the neck and hauling him to his feet he frog marched him to the showers spitting vitriol the whole way.

"What the_ fuck_ are you playing at Ted? How could you do this to yourself? Where's your fucking _self respect _man? What about all the shit you've worked so fucking hard for? You wanna see all that go down the pan dude? _WHAT THE FUCK_ DiBiase?! Your dad finds out about this you're a dead man, hell if _Randy_ finds out he'll kill you himself, after _everything_ he's done for you,_ this_ is how you repay him?"

Ted had no chance to reply as he was shoved forcefully to the cubicle floor, head bouncing off the hard white tiled wall behind him as John hit the water, turning the shower on full force, freezing cold spray filling the confined space.

Ted gasped in shock as he tried to escape, a high pitched yelp leaving him as he scrambled on the slippery floor as the freezing cold needles rained down on him, but John silenced him with a look.  
_  
__'Just fuckin' try me,' _his eyes said, a boot raised ready to stop any attempt at leaving any time soon.  
"Don't you fucking move, you _fuck_,"

Ted froze, silenced, cowering in John's wake, now fully coherent.  
What had he done?  
He didn't know, he couldn't remember. But the look on John's face was giving him a pretty good indication that it wasn't fucking good.

They stared at each other, Ted's body numb as the icicles drilled into his back, and it felt like an eternity before John reached over and nudged the hot tap on, just a tad, but it was alot longer before Ted's shivering slowly subsided under John's lethal glare.

Finally he spoke. "You calmed the fuck down yet?"  
Ted nodded, ashamed of himself, although he didn't even really know the full extent as to why yet, but he had a feeling of dread wash over him that John was going to give him plenty of reason soon enough.

He could barely bring himself to meet the man's eye, but when he did he didn't like what he saw there. Anger certainly, resentment, but something else, disappointment? Despair? DIsmay? All of the above even, and he shifted uncomfortably under John's scrutiny, wondering exactly how much he knew.

"We need to have a little chat," John said, "I'll be outside, don't even_ think_ about going anywhere else." And he turned on his heel, leaving Ted glowering after him from his spot under the water, thinking through all his secrets that John could possibly have found out.  
Could it be...?

No, surely not, how could he know? He'd been so careful, nobody could possibly know, surely?  
But as he stood there, he began to wonder.

Hauling himself to his feet and letting the water pound into his shoulders, soothing his aching back, he thought about all the times he'd been careless, all the times he'd been too eager, all the times he'd_ needed_ it, _craved_ it, and all the things he'd had to do to get it... maybe someone had seen him? Seen_ them_?

Maybe John had recognised the signs in him? John's past was no secret in that respect... not that he'd ever admit it now that he was the golden boy. And Randy, no innocence there either.

Ted didn't know.

He sighed warily, letting his head fall completely under the water, letting it absolve him of all his sins, washing them away down the drain along with the guilt that had crept in and slowly risen to the surface, clearing his conscience in preparation for whatever John was about to throw at him.  
He didn't need this hassle, it wasn't his problem. He didn't need John stepping in, he was doing just fine on his own thanks.

Well that was a complete and total lie.  
He thought of his poor innocent Cody, he was the one getting hurt in all this, and Ted was powerless to stop himself.

And the guilt was eating him up inside. But in a way it was all Cody's fault in the first place.  
If he hadn't taken Randy up on his offer to start this whole Legacy thing, Ted would never have got so jealous to begin with.

He was just positive that Cody would start lusting after his mentor, and that the hero worship would go too far, and Ted's heart would get broken.

The whole time he'd been away shooting the movie he'd hardly slept a wink, his overactive mind conjuring up images of what his boy was getting up to with the bronzed god.

Randy oozed sex out of every pore and Ted knew it, he could see it, and fuck, even _he_ would be hard pushed to say no, so he knew there would be no way Cody would be able to resist, Randy had been his hero since the dawn of time, since he rescued Cody's ninja turtles from certain death by Reid Flair about twenty years ago.

So Ted had known he had to take charge.  
He had to make himself a viable option, a _better_ option, just as tanned, just as toned, just as desirable so Cody would still want him when he got back, he had to win him back after his mind was poisoned and taken over, turned by Orton.

So when he was filming in Thailand he'd researched his options, and he knew just the man to turn to when he got back.  
Dave.  
Big Dave.  
Dave Batista.  
DIscretion and subtlety were his middle names. And he certainly had all the answers, even if Ted had to sometimes pay a little higher price than he'd anticipated, and ever even expected from Dave, and he learnt quickly the value of a non-monetary payment plan.

And it was all about attitude, and believing in yourself, don't feel guilty, don't act guilty, then you're not guilty. Simple.

A fail safe plan.

Yet Ted had started to get worried, he'd been losing the plot, he felt like his brain had been exploding, his imagination had certainly been running wild recently, and he didn't like the places his mind kept taking him.

And he was getting slightly worried that he was forgetting things, not like his car keys or his sunglasses or forgetting where he'd put his watch, but whole events, conversations, situations.

He couldn't remember how he'd got home the night after that party John was talking about earlier, and he wasn't even drunk, because Dave had warned him about the side effects of too much boozing.  
And the next morning Cody wouldn't tell him where he'd got the bruises around his neck, he went all quiet when Ted got angry about it, his imagination deciding it had been some brutal sex game he'd played with Randy.

But now, from what John had told him, he was beginning to realise that maybe he had done it himself... fuck, what was wrong with him? Just the thought that he'd hurt his own boy...

He couldn't even remember though.

And tonight, vague sketchy memories came flooding back of what he'd done, of himself delighting in kicking Randy's face in, of Cody's face, practically blue, as he held him against the wall by his neck, but the strongest memories were his feelings, his rage at Cody gouging his face, when he himself had no problem choking the life from him, loving the feel of his hands round his neck, of the satisfaction he felt hearing the dull thwack as Randy's skull rebounded off of the solid locker room floor.

Fuck.

Fuck, what was happening to him?  
He was a monster.  
He needed help, he was out of control.

Shame washed over him and he was mortified at the thought of what else he might've done to Cody all these times he'd blacked out, terrible images flashing through his brain.  
But Cody was still _there_ right?  
Unless he was too scared to go, but he was still _with_ him, he hadn't left him yet...  
so there was still hope...

Right?

But then again, the thought entered his head, what might be causing him to lose his mind like that in the first place? Maybe it _was_ Cody after all, maybe he _was_ getting these endless bruises and marks from fucking _Randy fucking Orton_, and maybe when Ted confronted him about it each time he admitted it and that's what made Ted lose control? Right?  
And maybe the only reason Cody hadn't left him yet was because of his own guilt? Right?

Maybe?

No.

He sighed again, he really didn't know, he couldn't remember, and he couldn't tell the difference any more between the real Cody who he _knew_ loved him and he _knew_ would never do_ anything_ like that to him, and the one he hated, the one he'd conjured in his mind that was having earth shattering orgasms with Randy Orton behind his back every night.

Man what the fuck was wrong with him? _Get a grip Ted, c'mon, fix up_, he shook himself mentally as he shut the water off, stepping out of the shower, readying himself to face his torment, face John.

...

John stood staring into his locker, lost in thoughts about the past and as he contemplated his next actions, absentmindedly running his fingers lightly over the objects he'd carefully extracted from Ted's rolled up socks.

Drumming his fingers on the side of the metal door his thoughts flicked back to the present, his mind suddenly filled with the image of Randy being knocked to the floor again, and his face set in a hard line as his rage bubbled to the surface, barely keeping from tipping over the edge.

But he knew what he had to do.

Hearing the shower go off in the other room, he turned slowly, facing the direction Ted would eventually emerge, and folded his arms across his chest, waiting.

.......

At the other side of the arena, Cody had finally reached the temporary medi-bay, half dragging Randy all the way, attempting to hold a now blood soaked towel to his head as best he could.

But he was too late, his shoulders deflated in defeat and his heart sank, they were already packed up and long gone.

Randy was obviously not quite with it, fading in and out of consciousness, and a trail of blood was making its way down from the deep gash in his skull where his head had slammed into the concrete floor.

Cody turned, set on making his way back to the car park and finding the nearest private medical centre, He cradled Randy's head resting hard against his shoulder as his eyes continued to roll back, and it was all he could do to hold him upright as panic began to set in.

Once he'd finally loaded him into the car, he sent John a text giving him all the hospital details obtained from directory inquiries, and sped off, once again, into the night.

.......

John raised his eyes from the screen of his phone to see Ted re-enter the room, pausing in the doorway.

"Sit," he commanded, pointing to the nearest bench, and Ted complied, something in John's tone telling him now was not the time to be disobeying.  
He slowly approached, hesitant.

Ted sat, waiting, eyeing John as he punched in a quick response, slipping the phone back into his oversized pocket.

"That was your little boyfriend on the phone there Teddy, he's with Randy, they just left in the car," he said quietly, watching Ted's eyes instantly narrowing.  
He rolled his own eyes in disgust at Ted's reaction, becoming animated as he flung his arms up in the air in frustration, barely refraining from hitting Ted square in the face and ending this there and then.

"And _see_, there you go _again_ with all that jumping to the wrong conclusions bullshit you do."  
He stopped motioning suddenly, arms falling to his sides, deflated. With a sigh, he turned to face Ted square on, bending down in front of his face to stare hard into his eyes, his face unreadable, Ted's face under duress.  
"He's not doing anything wrong you know Teddy. _Why _you don't trust him I have _no_ idea, not a fucking clue,"

Letting out a derisive snort he continued, " Because the dude fucking _worships_ you. He's a good guy Ted, one of the best. I don't know why you can't see that. He's _one_-fucking-_hundred_ percent loyal you know, in fact, I'd trust him with my life. With my _life _Ted, do you hear me? Do you _hear_ what I'm saying to you? As a matter of fact, that's almost what I'm doing right now."

Ted looked at him in confusion, "What are you talking about?"

"He's in the car with Randy," John chose his words carefully, almost on purpose to rile Ted up, see what reaction he'd get. As he saw the colour rise in his cheeks almost instantly, he quietly added, "Taking him to hospital,"

They stared at each other, whatever retort Ted had halfway out his mouth evaporating before it hit the cold, sweaty, stale air of the locker room.

"What?"

_'Shit does he seriously not remember?' _This was worse than John thought...  
"Your little boyfriend is taking Randy to hospital Ted, because of _what you did to him_. Randy is _my_ life Ted, _MY FUCKING LIFE_!" he shouted, bending down in his face again, "So do you know how that makes me _feel_? Can you _possibly_ imagine what I'm going through right now?" he gestured at himself as he practically pleaded with Ted to understand, his body wracked with emotion.

He sat down on the bench opposite, watching Ted's narrowed eyes, just waiting for them to dawn in comprehension, but nothing, only confusion was evident, the man was fucking blind! He'd fucking lost it! He leant forward, elbows on knees, mouth agape, staring, waiting. Nothing. No response.

Without breaking eye contact he stood up before he continued, "Randy is _everything _to me Teddy, _everything_. So I _need _you to understand exactly how hard it is for me to be standing here in front of you and_ not be _beating you to a bloody pulp."

He stared into Ted's eyes, making every word count.  
"Am I making myself clear here?"

Ted nodded, not daring to say a word.

At last, something, a sign of life.  
"But that's not what I wanted to talk to you about,"  
John turned back to his locker, carefully extracting the items he'd found in Ted's bag. First the rolled up socks, which he threw at Ted who instantly upon seeing them had frozen in shock, then carefully he placed a syringe and two small glass bottles in the palm of his hand, turning back to lean casually on his locker.

Proferring his hand, palm upwards, he faced Ted who had shrunk back against the wall.  
"What exactly do you think you're playin' at DiBiase?"


	3. Chapter 3

Psycho Ted pt 3

John's voice was a growl, barely audible yet thundering through Ted's brain as it echoed around the suddenly confined room.

"Well?"

"I.. er, I..."

John continued to stare him down, waiting. "I got all night DiBiase,"

Nothing.

He sat back down on the hard wooden bench, staring, waiting.

Nothing.

So he stood again, taking a step closer, looming over the ashen faced man, he could practically hear the cogs turning in his brain, turning themselves over and inside out as he tried to come up with an explanation.

"It's not mine!"

"That's not good enough." John practically sang the words.

"I don't know!"

"Your response is invalid. It does not compute. PLEASE TRY AGAIN!" John bellowed, screaming in his face.

"You're insane,"

John shrugged, non-plussed, "Yeah, maybe. And? I still want answers Teddy. Ted. Teddy. Tedster." he said, rolling the name around on his tongue. "Yup, got all night."

Ted watched him start to pace, whistling, as if he didn't have a care in the world. Ted recognised a bad sign when he saw one.  
"Seriously, I don't know how it got in there,"

"I do."

Ted stared, "What?"

"Dave Batista."

Ted felt like time froze as guilt washed over him, he stuttered in shock, "I can explain..."

"Yeah, you can start by explaining it to Vince, _after_ I explain my version to him of course,"

Ted's eyes widened in terror as John continued, pulling out his phone again, "I can think of a few _very_ good explanations for him, all of them starting and finishing with _you're a fucking dick_,"

"John, no, please, you wouldn't!"

"Try me,"

"Please!" Ted screamed, rising to his feet as panic set in.

John looked at him, fingers hovering over the dial button on his phone, a cold hard look in his eye.  
"Did I say you could move?"

Ted's bum hit the bench faster than a kid in a game of musical chairs.

"Okay then Ted, tell me why, c'mon Ted, I'm just dying to know."

Ted snorted, "Like you don't know already, and like you can fucking talk anyway."

"You really think that's a good route to be going down?" John couldn't help a smirk, he lifted his phone again, "I'm old news Teds, I've changed, grown up, Vince has already made me see the error of my ways,"

Ted glowered at him darkly, knowing it to be the truth, he gave in, shoulders slumped, rising in time with his breathing, defeated, deflated.  
"I don't really know why,"

"Cos you're a dick. You have no respect."

"I know. I tried to stop. I did, really. I know I'm acting like a jerk. But I can't, I just can't stop."

"Do you wanna know how I stopped?"

"Yeah," Ted was curious, he had to admit, he looked up, "How?"

"I got caught,"  
John watched Ted hang his head again at his words, and couldn't stop himself from continuing, pushing the man further, to make him see.  
"And now you are too. How can you live with yourself? Knowing what you're doing to yourself? And doing to Cody? He doesn't deserve this shit."

"I know. I do know, really, but I can't help it. I can't stop myself. I don't even know what I'm doing."

"You're hurting him Ted. Just like I did with Randy, and he let me, just like Cody lets you. But now you've hurt Randy too, so now _this. stops. here. Ted. _Do you hear me? What has Cody ever done to deserve this? Huh? Nothing. You hear me? Nothing."

"I know! Okay? I know... god damnit! it's just... he just, he makes me _so_ mad! I'm _so_ angry all the time! And I _can't _stop..." he finished in a whisper, turning his head away from John's penetrating gaze. He was starting to feel woozy again, it was all too much for him, this cold clammy room, too intense.

"Why??! Why _the fuck_ does he make you so angry? It's not stuff _he's_ doing Ted, it's stuff _you're_ doing, you're messing with your _brain_ man."

"But he eggs me on, he fucking _starts_ it! He, he, I dunno, with _Randy_, he flaunts it in front of me,"

"Ted, get it through your fucking thick messed up head man, they're_ friends_, nothing more! Get over it!"

"But _how _can you say that? How can you be so sure? Haven't you _seen _the way Cody is when he's with him?"

John shook his head in disbelief that they were back here again, "_Yeah,_ I _have_, and I've _also_ seen the way he is with _you,_ Ted, _you're _the one he loves dude, that much is obvious to anyone with eyes in their head. So I just know, ok? _Trust_ me on this. Anyway, Randy would've told me."

Ted looked at him, head cocked to one side, "I don't know why you trust him so much."

John in return looked back at him sadly, "Cos that's what love is all about Teddy. Obviously something you know _nothing_ about."

"Hang on, _What_?"

"What?" John's eyes had travelled to a spot on the floor, but shot back up in time to catch the intense stare on Ted's face.

"What did you just say?"

"That you have alot to learn about love buddy, if you wanna keep Cody you gotta cha..."

"No, not _that_, are you saying that..." Ted shook his head as if to clear it like he'd misheard and that'd make it sound right.

"That _what_?"

"You and Randy...?"

"_WHAT??! _Ted, haven't you listened to a _fucking word I've said_ tonight?! Obviously fucking not! _Man!_ I can't _believe _you! You are so blinded by the fucking drugs man, Ted you gotta _stop_ this shit! Before someone gets fucking _killed_ man, you _know_ you could've killed Randy tonight right? This shit stops now. _Period_."

"I don't even remember what I did,"

John studied him closely, wondering what the fuck to do. He could barely get past his own anger but something in Ted's demeanor was scaring him. He just wasn't listening, he just couldn't see anything apart from what he'd made up his mind to believe, what he'd decided was the truth.  
The last thing John wanted was a Benoit situation on his hands, and unfortunately that definitely seemed to be the direction Ted was headed. He certainly didn't want history repeating itself, he knew how close he himself had come.  
Maybe that was the only way to make Ted see sense...

"Ted," John started carefully, "I want to tell you something that happened to me a very long time ago..."

...........

Cody sat waiting, perched on the edge of the hard vinyl bench in the sterile depressing waiting room. His leg bounced up and down on the ball of one foot, his fingers tapping out a tuneless monotonous beat on his thigh, on the vinyl, on his phone, constantly fiddling nervously as he anxiously awaited word, any word.  
Word from John about what was going down with Ted, word from someone coming to tell him Randy had finished his scans, anything.

Nothing.

As much as he didn't want to leave Randy here by himself, and as angry as he was with Ted, he wanted to be with him. He was going out of his mind with worry, left on his own... thinking.  
Thinking about what could be happening to Ted , left in John's 'capable hands'. Cody had seen John's face when Ted knocked Randy down and he knew he was intent on revenge.

But apart from that, Cody also knew that _he_ should be here, John should be _here_ at Randy's bedside, and he knew his friend would be worrying himself into a frenzy too if they didn't get any news soon.

Eventually, an eternity later, or at least that's how it felt to Cody, a nurse came to take him to wait in a private room, and he'd barely taken a seat before Randy was wheeled in, looking sombre, head swathed in bandages.

_"Oh fuck," _Cody freaked at the sight, hardly able to believe his Teddy had done this. But unfortunately he knew all too well first hand what he was capable of.

He made a polite grimace at the unnecessary quip made by the nurse, something about _'and there was me thinking wrestling was fake,'_ before she pulled a clipboard out of nowhere and continued asking her routine questions.  
"So, are you the next of kin? Family? _Partner_?" She put way too much emphasis on the last word for Cody's liking as she stood, pen poised on the clipboard, hovering over her notes, eyes taking in Cody's obvious injuries aswell.

"_No_," he snorted, as if that was preposterous, "That'd be his wife, I'm just his_ friend_," he finished, in turn emphasising the final word sarcastically as she went through ticking boxes off her list.

"I see." Tick, tick. "Hmm, so I assume she's been contacted? Or do you need someone to arrange that for you?" The snideyness was practically dripping from her voice as she looked up smugly at Cody, who did a fine job of glaring back at her.

But before he could retort in any way, Randy murmered suddenly, "No, I don't want her to know,"  
Cody nodded and the nurse looked at him strangely, "Not just yet," he added, giving her his most earnest gaze, "She'll only worry, and she's so far away,"

Succeeding in placating her somewhat, the nurse nodded briskly, satisfied with his explanation and filed her clipboard of notes in the holder at the end of the bed.

"Where's John?" Randy whispered, his eyes following her departure, and Cody bowed his head with a sigh.  
"Defending your honour."

"What exactly is that supposed to mean?" Randy clearly had little, if any, recollection of the shit that had gone down.

"I mean I left him knocking some sense into Ted, literally,"

Randy's foggy brain recollected some of the events of the last few hours, and his face took on a pained expression. "What the fuck is going on with him Cody?"

He watched the young man shift uncomfortably in his seat, looking anywhere but at Randy.  
Cody didn't answer. He could feel the intense eyes looking at him, he knew that once his own eyes met the penetrating gaze that was boring into him he would buckle under the pressure and tell his friend everything. Well, everything he knew at least.  
He felt terrible betraying Ted like this, he loved him so much, but that was why he had to say something, he was out of control. Something had to be done, it was his fault Randy was lying here now, if only he'd said something sooner... maybe none of this would've happened in the first place.

He had to put a stop to it now, before it was too late. "Ok," he said, standing up. He looked at Randy finally, conviction taking hold, and thrusting his hands deep in his pockets he began pacing, feeling Randy's eyes on him. He turned, meeting the steady gaze with a look of his own, unsure and not so steady.

"He's using."

Randy felt like his heart stopped. "What?"

"He needs help Randy, I don't know what to do,"

From his position in the bed he could clearly see how upset Cody was, and nodding slightly he reassured the young man, "We'll work something out Codes, I promise. Man it all fucking makes sense now, I can't believe I didn't see it."

"Dude, you've had your own stuff going on, why should you have even noticed any of this before?"

"Seriously, Cody, I _noticed_, believe me. How could I not notice the fresh black eyes, the hand marks around your neck, the way your tan gets darker and darker to cover it all... _believe me_ I noticed.  
And you _know_ I always got your back right? You _know_ I've asked you countless times what's goin' on man, but your response always made me think maybe it was something kinky going down that was none of my business, so I let it slide,"  
Their eyes met, Randy trying to make him see how much he meant this, "I wish I'd been more persistant. 'Cos this, I _should've_ recognised this."

Cody just stood looking at the ground, vulnerable and somewhat guilty, and Randy didn't think he'd even realised the significance of his last words there. "Codes?" he ventured cautiously, "What is it?"

"I'm _really_ sorry man, I knew that you'd clocked onto something, and I tried to fob you off, outta some stupid sense of pride, I was so embarrassed, I didn't want you to know what Ted was doing to me, that I was_ letting_ him. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have lied to you like that when you were only trying to help."

"Hey hey hey, dude, it's ok, you were trying to protect the person you love. I understand that, _believe_ me, I do, more than you know." He paused, pulling himself up a little, "Cody you need to tell me the whole story, tell me what you know,"

"He doesn't know that I know..."  
"Well, it sounds like he's finding out the hard way."

Cody sighed, nodding, "Yeah, it certainly does. 'Cos I told John." Randy raised an eyebrow, knowing what Cody's train of thought might be, but said nothing, waiting for him to continue.

"Well, one night, we'd just done a house show, I forget where exactly, and we were all heading out for some food. Only Ted starts acting weird, on edge, couldn't sit still, that kinda thing.  
Really unlike him not to be cool calm and collected at all times as you know, then as soon as I'm ready he decides he doesn't wanna go now, he's not feeling too good.  
I was all, _'oh ok,_' totally buying it, tucking him in bed, kissing him goodbye and off I went.

Right, so I'm down in the bar, and not ten minutes later Dave gets up from the table and is all _'oh I'm not hungry, gonna bail,' _cool, no problem, see you later. But then I notice he's dropped his wallet on the seat so I go after him, good samaritan and all that shit right, but I get to the lobby Randy, and there he is, walking out the fucking door with _TED_.  
I couldn't believe it! So I followed them. I wasn't thinking straight, I thought Ted was _cheating on me_ Randy! With _Batista_ of all people! Batista! What the _fuck_?!"

He shook his head remembering, the same feeling of disgust washing over him again as the thought reminded him how he'd felt that night.

"So I follow them out, they head to the back of the parking lot, it wasn't hard keeping out of sight and I was straining to hear everything they said, thinking, you know, the worst. So it wasn't making sense to me, I was hearing Ted ask stuff like _'Have you got it? How much you got?' _and Dave was all _'Yeah I got it, how much you want?' __  
_I was completely confused, 'cos it sounded like a fucking drug deal, but I didn't for a fucking minute think that that's what it _actually_ was, it didn't even cross my mind!  
Then Ted goes, _'I need a lil' somethin' somethin' to tide me over,' _and Dave said something like _'You still owe me boy, what about our little arrangement?' __  
_So by now I'm totally like what the fuck??! And I was trying to see what he's doing, but they're in the car now and I can't hear any more, so I headed in.  
Randy my head was all over the place, I went and sat back down with all you guys, I put Dave's wallet back where he'd dropped it, but I couldn't concentrate, I bailed."

"I remember that night, you fed me some bullshit excuse. Huh, and Dave came back looking for his cash, that was ages ago Codes, I can't believe it's been going on since then,"

Cody nodded, sighing as he continued, "Yeah,I know. I'm sorry, I just didn't know what to do. I went back to the room and just got in bed. I just lay there, waiting for him, I didn't know whether I was going to confront him or pretend I didn't know a thing.  
He didn't even come back for like an hour. I think he must've been pretty surprised to see me there, seeing as I was s'posed to have thought I'd left him all tucked in and fucking sick in bed. But anyway.  
I still didn't know what to do so I pretended to be asleep, but I was watching him, he was carrying something. He went straight to his gymbag and got all frantic, hiding it, then gets in bed calm as you please, like he was there all along.

I was awake half the fucking night thinking about it, and I just wanted to get over there and look, find out what all this was about. But I didn't, I just waited, and in the morning he's in the shower, all bouncing around and I was just not in the mood.  
I took ages getting up like I had a hangover, and I didn't say a word about anything, neither did he.  
So he goes to breakfast and I'm all _'yeah yeah, see you down there_,' and that's when I went looking, that's when I found out.  
I went through his stuff Randy, I'm not proud of that, but I thought we didn't have any secrets you know? But I was worried about him already. So there it is, there you have it."

Randy considered him for a moment, regarding him with doleful eyes.  
"Baby, c'mere." And Cody sat beside him, tears threatening, Randy's arm wrapping around his shoulders gently, "It's ok, John will sort him out,"  
"Yeah?"  
"Yeah, I reckon. And, I'm really sorry," his voice rumbled over them both in the quiet still room, comforting and consoling, "But I gotta ask you something, I need to know, exactly when did the violence start?"  
He felt him stiffen momentarily before he lightly ventured, "Oh, I dunno.."  
"Codes..."  
He shrugged, "I dunno Randy really, it's been going on so long I can't even remember what it was like before. It was gradual I guess, but not all that long afterwards, after that night."

"Man," Randy sighed softly, "I wish you'd have told me, I wish you'd felt you could, you know? I wish you'd _trusted _me enough."  
"Are you_ kidding_ me man? _Yeah right! _ I couldn't! I mean I _do_ trust you, but I told you already, it wasn't that, it was, it's that, ..." he paused, sighing dramatically and ran his hands through his hair in frustration, "Don't make me say this Randy," he whispered, but he continued regardless, "I didn't want you finding out _how_, how I _let_ him, how_ weak_ I am."

"Codes, I don't think that, I wouldn't have," he shook his head slightly, upset that was how Cody perceived him, one of his oldest friends and that was how he felt, "I feel like I've failed you man, I can't believe this is happening again, right under my nose, again,"

Cody turned to face him, eyes narrowed suspiciously, "What exactly does that mean? What are you talking about?"  
"Look," he started hesitantly, "There's something I should've told you a long time ago. If I had've, maybe we could've avoided this sorry fucken' mess..."

................


	4. Chapter 4

Psycho Ted pt 4

John sat in the silent locker room, sizing Ted up, and across town in the sterile hospital bed Randy sat Cody back down.  
They took a deep breath in unison.  
Unbeknown to them they were both about to embark on an emotional journey back in time, to a time of pain and heartache, and very nearly, heart_break_ too.  
But hopefully by divulging these secrets they'd be able to help, using their own experience maybe they could stop history repeating itself. They turned, as one, to their respective captive audience.

**"I was young..."**_**  
**_**  
**_"John was young..."_

**"I was fuckin' stupid..."****  
**_**  
**__"He didn't know what he was doing, it was so stupid..."_

**"We were both new to the business..."****  
**_  
"We were stuck out at that god forsaken hell hole that was OVW..."_

**"And the pressure was on man, there were better guys out there than us, we were just average dudes, small fish in a big fuckin' pond."****  
**_**  
**__"I was still just glad to be outta the marines, know what I mean? I was just taking it all in my stride, it was all new to me still."_

**"I was desperate..."****  
**  
_"But he was __desperate__ Cody, he started in on the body building, purely I reckon just to have something to fuckin' __do__, whiling away hours in the gym to stop some of the fuckin' __monotony__, it was so god damned boring. And he really got into it."_

**"I realised I had to do **_**something**_**, to make a difference, to get **_**noticed**_**, other guys were getting picked up, but they all had **_**something**_**, they'd created something for themselves, an image, a **_**persona**_**, I knew I had to work hard, I **_**wanted **_**this, but I was on the verge of leaving, I **_**hated**_** it, I had to do something, my destiny was in my own hands, it was **_**my**_** time,"******

_"And then he met me,"_

**"I mean properly met,"****  
**_  
"We'd got paired up over something and had to work together for a whole day,"_

**"A whole fucken' day man! Can you imagine! Gawd, that was the day we had the first of many arguments, that day was the start of a beautiful friendship,"******

_"We hated each other,"_

**"We loved each other, right from the start."****  
**_  
"He'll pretend otherwise, naturally."_

**"He'll deny it though,"******

"You know what he's like," both men said fondly, wondering what the other was doing as they spoke.

_"Eventually we ended up spending enough time together that we kinda became friends by default."_

**"Randy couldn't get enough of me!"****  
**  
_"But I'd been hanging around with someone else before I met John, he was older than us, bigger, stronger, more experienced, and now they started training together too, it was all my fault, I introduced them,"_

**"So Dave, he just started out as a friend Randy used to go drinking with, I'd seen him around, down in the weights room mostly, and he asked me to spot for him, we got on real well, no drama's, things started to look up for me,"******

_"About the same time, me and John somehow got together. For the first time, I was happy there. Of course, we were totally drunk, it was never spoken of, and only happened in the deepest dark of night, never in the harsh light of day!  
God forbid!  
That might make it all real! But I think it made John start to question himself, his own masculinity, he certainly wasn't no fuckin' __pansy assed__queer, shirtliftin turd burglar, ass bandit faggot__, he had a whole list of names for it that's for damn sure! Well that's what he'd tell you anyway. He had something to prove, ya know?"_

**"Dave was buff! Built like a mutha fucken brick shithouse! He really taught me alot you know? He had that drive, determination, he wanted to succeed, he knew what he wanted, and he knew how to get it. ****  
****I wanted some of that too. ****  
****Not that Randy didn't have any of those things, but he'd just had a really hard time in the marines, he was still deciding what he really wanted in life, and he seemed to still be in the middle of choosing his path, finding his direction. But he was young, he had time, I was gettin' desperate, ya know?"****  
**  
_"I didn't know at first that Dave was feeding him that shit, I had no idea. I was just happy he'd come sneaking into my room every other night when he'd had so much to drink that he had the guts to do what he __really__ wanted, __knew__ what he really wanted, could __admit __what he really wanted. He could only ever admit it when he was wasted.  
To__ himself__ anyway, it took a helluva lot longer before he ever admitted __anything__ to me.  
And I let him do whatever the hell he wanted to do to me.  
I wanted him to keep coming back.  
But the whole thing that happened during his sessions with Dave, It had been going on for fucking ages before I knew anything about it. It wasn't until he beat the fucking shit outta me one time that alarm bells started to ring in my stupid thick head."  
_  
**"I'm not proud of it Ted, it was the fucking **_**lowest **_**moment of my life, I still can't **_**believe**_** I did that to him, it **_**still **_**makes me hate myself now knowing what I did. But I kept blaming **_**him**_**, it was all **_**his fault**_**, it was his **_**eyes**_**, his stupid fucking eyes that kept **_**looking**_** at me, **_**watching**_** me, **_**reading**_** me, they knew too much, they could **_**see**_** everything, **_**everything**_** I didn't want him to know. I couldn't stand that those eyes kept **_**wanting**_** me, kept **_**loving**_** me. I've always loved his eyes, I don't think I've ever told him that, it took me a real long time to realise it. ****  
****But I **_**hated**_** him for them making me **_**feel**_** things, things I wasn't ready to feel. So I immersed myself in the gym, in the little extras Dave kept providing, the little extras he started getting me to, ahem, perform, you know, provide in return. I know now that's what tipped me over the edge, what drove me to it. But at the time I only got worse. Any of this starting to sound familiar Ted?"****  
**  
_"When I finally went up to WWE, I got picked before he did, and I don't think he could understand it, he'd been working real hard, but so had I, he'd just stopped noticing.  
He said it was all 'cos of my dad blahblahblah, and we didn't see each other for awhile. But then when he finally made it over, I was real excited, I missed him for fuck's sake, even after everything he'd said and done to me.  
So I went and sought him out, he'd been avoiding me. I'd gone over to Smackdown just after he arrived in the September, and I don't know if you remember, but that was the first time I broke my shoulder.  
Yup, we certainly didn't go running back into each other's arms like star crossed lovers like I'd hoped to. I can laugh about it now, but man, fucker broke my heart as well as my shoulder that night Codes."  
_  
**"I really wanted to see him ya know, I really did, but I didn't know if I could take it, and as it turned out I couldn't. I was running on empty supply wise, and was at the end of my tether sanity wise. I didn't mean to break his fucking bones man, I don't know how he ever forgave me. I sat vigil at his bedside at the hospital.****  
****Jjust like Cody's doing with him right this very moment. ****  
****And that's when I broke down. ****  
****I told him everything, about how hooked I was, how much money I owed, what Dave made me do to pay my debts. He couldn't go anywhere, he couldn't run from me, I needed him to listen, to understand, so I finally let it all out. That's when I finally realised I couldn't keep doing this without him. Finally admitted it. And I told him. I've never seen him smile so big. ****  
****Idiot. ****  
****To this day I don't get what he sees in me. But I thank God Almighty he does, 'cos without the fucker I could easily be dead right now. We all know what happened to Benoit now don't we."**

_"I made him promise me he'd stop going anywhere near Dave, who'd put him onto a new contact on the show. Now I got on fine with Chris, he was a veteran in the business and great to work with, but I didn't want John carrying on right where he'd left off with Dave, dependant on someone, owing someone. I just didn't want any reminders of all that shit.  
So John said there was this online pharmacy type place he'd heard about, and I agreed to help him, as long as it was only me that ordered for him, so there was at least some control over what he took. And things did start to settle down for a while. Everything was still all new and exciting, we were at it like rabbits every chance we got, life was turning out pretty swell. And that's how things carried on for the next five or so years."  
_  
**"Then all the shit leading up to the Benoit incident happened. That year huge investigations got underway, the wellness policy had been introduced the year before, you know, all that shit. Randy was stressed with me being away for so long, when I'd been filming and whatnot, I like to think he missed me. ****  
****Plus people had started to get suspicious about us, so he was under pressure trying to decide whether to get married. He had a 'girlfiend' back home anyways, and Vince had been on at him to do it for quite awhile already, he likes to give his heels a semi-human real life persona, and so the pressure built up and he brought his relaxation device to work, that's when the whole spliff thing happened. ****  
****A fuckin' spliff! ****  
****Compared to what **_**I **_**was getting up to they fucking did **_**him**_** for**_** having a toke backstage??! **_** I felt so guilty, **_**so so**_** guilty, 'cos they put him under investigation and found out about my ahem, **_**'account' **_**online. Only **_**my**_** account, was in **_**his **_**name, so I couldn't access it and get out of control again. Dickhead. ****  
****He got done. That was it, that woke me up."******

_"The thing is though, I __wanted__ it that way, it was __me__ who made him do it like that. I thought it was for the best, I couldn't risk him, you know, losin' the fucken plot again. Especially by now there was so much at stake. I didn't give a moments thought to my own welfare or my own name getting dragged through the mud, until it actually happened that is.  
By then of course it was too late, but I wouldn't change it.  
I did it for him.  
So he stopped, just like that, it was hard, but he did it, for me.  
Too little too late, but he did it. I like to think it's the thought that counts, right?  
Then Benoit, er, happened. The world goes into shock, blame starts flying, we're all living under a microscope __again__.  
Vince decided I'd better do something to you know, help the cause, clean my profile up a bit, make myself out to be a clean living clean cut kinda guy, that was his advice, his 'recommendation' of course. So I get married, let the dust settle, John makes some more good guy movies and gets his superJohn push to try raise our media profile again, we go PG etcetera."  
_  
**"So, everything's hunky-dory."****  
**  
_"Apparently,"_

**"And I guess that brings us to now, and what we're gonna do with you, Teddy-boy." ****  
**


	5. Chapter 5

Psycho Ted pt 5

Ted didn't know what to say. There he was, all caught up in feeling that _'nobody understands me_,' _'no one knows what i'm going through,_' '_you don't know what it's been like for me_,' then suddenly, it actually wasn't like that at all. In fact, it never had been, it was right there in front of him all along, he'd just always been too caught up in his own problems to notice.  
But now he had no choice but to notice. Now he had to sit up and acknowledge that it didn't have to be this way.  
But the question now, was what did he intend to do about it?

He stared at John, at the sadness in his eyes as he relayed his tale, and he knew, here was proof that he could get through this, sitting here in front of him, was someone that could help.  
That _wanted_ to help.

In the blink of an eye, Ted had made hs decision, and he knew what he had to do.  
But it was one thing to _know_ you have to tame the monster within, but how do you go about actually _doing_ it?  
And what about the monster free to live and go about their business on the outside? Why should they continue to get away with ruining god knows how many more lives?

Yes, Ted knew what he had to do.  
"Okay John," he said with conviction, "I'm ready, I'm ready to walk towards the light,"

...................................................

Cody sat still, elbows on knees, his chin propped up in his hands, mouth agape, stunned. He hadn't moved the entire time Randy talked, apart from the further widening of his eyes at various points throughout.  
He wordlessly pulled his friend into a close embrace, fully aware of how much Randy had gone through to re-live all that.  
They stayed like that for an eternity, just holding each other, thinking, eyes fixed unseeing on the mute tv fixed to the wall opposite.

"No more secrets, yeah?" Randy finally whispered, his voice husky in the crook of Cody's neck,  
"Yeah, definitely, definitely."  
He felt Cody nodding into him and tightened his hold around his shoulders as he heard what he could've sworn was a sob escape his lips.

"This is all way too fucking much for me right now,"  
"You need to go find him Codes,"  
"I can't, I'm not leaving you here alone, no way," he lifted his head and smiled crookedly, eyes shining with the remnants of recently shed tears, now drying on Randy's collar as he looked him in the eye, "You can't get rid of me that easily, you should know that by now."

Randy couldn't help a chuckle at that, "Yeah, you're a persistant little fucker I'll give you that, but you two _really_ need to talk, you need to sort this out."  
"I know, but I'm still not leaving you, not until I get some kind of word from John, I promised him."  
He snuggled back down into his previous position again as Randy nodded his consent, laying his head carefully on his good shoulder, and again they fell into a long comfortable silence.

Eventually, a sudden vibration ran through them both and they jumped apart as Cody fished for his phone, lost in the recesses of his pocket.  
Randy looked on expectantly, "That was John, he's on his way," he read out, _'and about fucking time too,' _he thought to himself, wondering what on earth had taken so long, his now overly suspicious mind working overtime wondering what the fuck they'd been doing all this time?

They sat watching the box as they waited, Cody flicking channels one after the other with one hand and fiddling constantly with his phone with the other, checking to see if Ted had text him every few seconds. Why hadn't he? If John had left him why hadn't he got in touch? He was getting worried again, concern set in on his face.

"Cody, you can go now you know, seriously, go, he'll be here soon,"  
"No, I... it's okay, I'll wait,"

"Well fucking sit still then, your constant fidgeting is driving me insane, get back here," he held his arms out again.

"Sorry," he threw the remote down and scooted backwards again.  
"It's okay, I was only joking, trying to lighten the mood a little,"

"Oh, yeah, ok... I'm just worried about him is all, I thought I would've heard _something_ by now... what if he _hates_ me?! Maybe 'cos I told John, I could've got him in serious trouble! ... What if John told Vince?... Maybe he's been _fired_! ... What if he never wants to see me again? ...I betrayed him!" His voice rose an octave with every new thought that occured to him, finally reaching it's crescendo in an almost strangled cry on the final word.

"Oh man," Randy drew him in closer, enveloping him completely to calm Cody's now heaving chest as sobs threatened to wrack his body once more, "Shhh, baby, don't say things like that, you didn't_ betray_ him, you were_ helping_ him, he won't hate you for that, he_ loves_ you, you know he does,"

"I _don't_ know, I _really _don't know if I can be so sure of that any more... of, well, of fucking _anything_."

"Of course you can,"

"But _Dave_... he's been ... _with_ Dave," A sob finally escaped him and he hid his face once more in Randy's neck as the tears spilled over.

"Oh Cody, baby, I know, _I know_, but it's just business, I know that doesn't make it any easier, but it also doesn't mean he loves you any less, and it_ certainly_ doesn't mean he has _any_ feelings for Dave at all, if anything it'll only make him hate him more,"

"It's not business to _me_," he said, so softly Randy barely heard the words despite Cody's lips resting against his ear, and his heart broke for his young friend.

"I know it's not Codes, I know, I'm so sorry,"  
"What am I gonna do? What am I _s'posed_ to do now? I really don't know.."

"I dunno either, go find him, that's all I can suggest, see what he has to say for himself, that's all you can do, go on, go find him,"

"But John said.."

"John said what?" both men turned at the sudden voice from the doorway behind them.

"John!"

Cody jumped up instantly, practically running over, as if looking for someone else to appear behind him.

"Wh.. where's Ted? What have you done with him? I thought you were gonna call me? Did you find it? In his bag? Did you look?"

John came and stood by the bedside, reaching for Randy's outstretched hand to take in his own, smiling his hello before addressing Cody's frantic questions.

"What have I _done_ with him? You make it sound like I'm s'posed to have chopped him up into little bits or something! He's _fine_, honestly, I dropped him back at the room, but Randy's right, you should go talk to him, the sooner the better. 'Cos yeah, I _did_ look, and yeah I _did _find it, so I told him some stuff, and he's got things he needs to talk to you about."

Cody nodded, breath hitching, gulping down another wave of sobs threatening to escape. He didn't trust himself to speak again just yet as conflicting thoughts tore his mind apart. On the one hand, relief flooded through him 'cos here was John telling him he'd dropped Ted home and he was fine, on the other, he still hadn't heard from him yet...

"Are you okay Codes?" John saw the stricken look on his face and totally understood how he felt, not knowing, but in a way not wanting to know anything else, just wanting everything to go back to normal, back to the way it was, _before_.

He nodded again, "I'm gonna go," he croaked, burying his face in Randy's neck one more time, a few tears making their way down the now well worn tracks at Randy's whispered words of comfort in his ear as the older man held him tight.  
"Thankyou Randy, thankyou, I'm so sorry, honestly,..."  
"Hey, enough of being sorry already. Ring me, okay? Promise? A text, something, just to let me know everything's okay when you get there?"

"Yep, I will,"  
"Okay, go,"  
"See ya bud," John clapped him on the back too, "Don't worry, everything's gonna be fine, I promise."

He watched him practically sprint out the door, and turned to Randy, eyebrow arched, "Dude, you're lucky I'm not a paranoid, jealous kinda guy, the way you two fuckers are with each other, seeing what I did when I walked in that door,"

"What? John..."

"Dude, I'm just screwin' with ya," he climbed up next to Randy on the bed, wrapping his arm around his shoulder and pulling him close, resting his forehead gently against his cheek, "But just think about it from Ted's point of view, and what _he_ might've thought..."

Randy sighed, "I love you too,"  
"I'm only sayin'..."

It was late when John dropped Ted out the front of the hotel, nearly 3am, and as John sped off into the night heading to Randty's bedside, Ted slowly made his way upstairs.

He was shattered, he felt, drained, empty. But at the same time enlightened, and hopeful. He just wanted to go to bed, and wake up to a new day, one in which Cody would forgive him. Or so he hoped.

But he hadn't even got as far as the elevator before a low voice broke his reverie, interrupting his train of thought.

"Hey there good lookin',"  
Ted froze.  
Dave.

"What do you want?"  
Dave laughed, a low, dark chuckle rising up from the dim recesses of his soul. "What do I want??!" he repeated, "Oh, you know, the usual,"

Ted bristled, "That's no longer an option Dave,"  
"I beg your pardon?"  
"You heard!" Ted actually gulped, surprised at his own brashness.

"You owe me boy," Dave growled.

"I'll pay you what I owe. In full. Cash. Then just leave me alone." He stepped through as the elevator doors opened, pressing the button for his floor.

"Oh you'd like it to be that simple, wouldn't you boy?"

"That's how it's gonna be, take it or leave it,"

Dave laughed menacingly, "Oh, I don't think so, you've got an awful lot to learn boy, before you become a player in this business."  
He moved forward, standing eye to eye, poking his finger in Ted's chest to emphasise every word, "_You. Belong. To. Me_."

He stepped back, smirking, leaning on the wall, arms folded across his chest.

"I belong to _no one_,"

"Well, if you don't give me what I want, I'll take it from your little pansy whore boyfriend instead. I bet he'll scream, is he a _screamer _Teddy-boy?"

Ted turned, rounding on Dave in one swift movement, fury in his eyes, squaring up to him for the first time, nose to nose, chest heaving.  
"Don't you fucking touch him." he snarled, with more conviction in his voice than Dave had ever heard coming from him before. _'Hm,' he thought, 'Hit a nerve I see,'___

"Or what?"

The elevator doors pinged open, Dave turning on his heel and heading down the hall, knowing Ted would follow.

"You fucking stay away from him! You hear me Dave? You hear?"

Dave said nothing, just stood leaning on the door frame as Ted swiped his card, and pushed the door open himself, whistling as he invited himself in. "Oh, don't mind if I do,"

"_Get out_."

Dave didn't even dignify that with a response, just laughed, walking over to look out the window, "Nice view,"

Ted's eyes flicked to the empty bed round the corner, checking that Cody wasn't back yet.  
"I've got your money," he dropped his bag on the bed and took out a pile of new bills, "Just _leave_ it, just _go_, fucking get outta here man,"

"You gonna _make_ me?" Dave sauntered over, grin firmly planted in place but his eyes told a different story.

Ted seethed, but he knew what happened when Batista got mad, and he was only ever just one small click away from that eventuality. He'd already pushed the boundary further than he'd intended so he bit back his retort as best he could, knowing Dave wasn't the only one who could get mad, oh yes, that was something Ted DiBiase Jr was very good at.

But just the threat, hell, even the _thought_ of him laying a hand on Cody made him realise with a jolt how much he actually did love him.  
His blood boiled, and with a pang of guilt, shame washed over him when it hit him how it was somehow okay in his mind to hit Cody himself, but certainly not for anyone else to do it.  
He'd kill them.

Cody was _his_ god damnit!  
He _belonged_ to _him_!  
And as the thought entered his head, the irony of his train of thought was not lost on him, of how he himself had reacted only moments ago when Dave said the very same thing to him.

He took a step back, at the same time Dave took a step forward, coming up to him from behind, "What you thinkin' 'bout Teddy-boy? Huh?"

Ted said nothing, his eyes fixed, concentrating on a spot on the wall in front of him as he felt Batista's hands slide under his shirt, gripping his hips. He tried to zone out, like he'd done many times before, taking himself away from the action to a happy place, the same happy place he always went when Dave came to visit.

But it wasn't working, he felt like a switch had been flicked on in his brain, the fuzzy numbness lifting slightly, and he felt lke his chat with John had opened his eyes, given him the clarity he needed, that had been absent for so long.

"I don't want it any more Dave, I'm done, it's over."

He felt Batista tense behind him at his words, and momentarily cease his incessant caress of Ted's abdoman. Ted managed to supress a shudder as Dave's hands continued to move, heading lower, grabbing his ass with both hands.

He was usually so zoned out by now that he wasn't mentally participating in the events that transpired, but not today, today he needed his wits about him.

"You don't mean that Teddy, I _know_ you don't. You can't live without it, you _know_ it, you're my best customer,"

"No, not any more,"

Dave growled, "But what about Orton? You're _no_ threat to him without it, not yet Ted. He's better, he's bigger, you don't have a hope in hell of ever getting with him, and we all know he only has eyes for Rhodes, for your boy, so whatcha gonna do about it Teddy-boy? 'Cos Cody will never fully belong to you while Orton is around," He snarled in Ted's ear, hands undoing the belt buckle on his jeans and manouvering the waistband over his hips.

"That's not true, they're just friends. Orton has his head filled with someone else, only you already knew that, didn't you Dave?" Realisation hit him like a blow to the head, "You knew all along? You're the one who kept me from seeing the truth all this time? I'm right aren't I?"

The only answer he got was Dave shoving him up against the wall with a roar, smashing his face into the mirror, holding him there with his body weight as he fished himself out of his pants. With a grunt he thrust himself deep into Ted from behind, one hand over his mouth anticipating a bloodcurdling scream that would've woken the dead.  
But Ted didn't scream, he didn't want to give Dave the satisfaction, he stood his ground, he held his breath, as silent tears slid down his cheeks, and he drifted off to his happy place.

It was all over in seconds, as Dave spasmed behind him, head thrown back, eyes closed, jackhammering away, Ted's hand closed around the largest shard of mirror that had embedded itself flat against his cheek. In a swift motion, Dave's head fell forward onto Ted's shoulder as his orgasm engulfed him, and Ted drove the glass behind him into the thick neck of the shuddering man.  
Dave never knew what hit him.  
He staggered backwards, clutching at the shard, only succeeding in encouraging more blood to spurt from the deep gash it left behind. His eyes were wide as he gurgled a string of indecipherable sounds, reaching out as he fell, fell hard onto the soft carpeted floor, blood staining the pale fabric as it pooled under his head where he lay, and the last signs of life left his eyes as they stared, glassy, glazed, at a spot on the wall, where a mirror should've been.

Ted stood, covered in a dead man's blood, jeans still round his ankles, face pressed against the same bit of wall as if still held there, and his chest heaved, and he gulped huge lungfuls of air. And the door clicked open.

And Cody stood there.


End file.
